Toast

By Anne Leonard

It’s all about the bread and the fixin’s when it comes to Toast. From the guys who brought you Handsome Biscuit and Field Guide, their latest endeavor will forever change how you look at your buttered breakfast toast.

Every item on the menu is served on a chunky slice of their fluffy, homemade toast. Lean sweet with malt ice cream and chocolate chips, obscure with chicken pate and apricot preserves, or enjoy a twist on your classic BLT with their BLATY of bacon, lettuce, avocado slaw, tomato and a yolk. If the husband and I could have stomached over a dozen bold variations of toast we would have, but we figured a trio would be the perfect amount for a light dinner.

Depending on your sweet or savory choice of toast, they’re served on one of two styles of their homemade bread—Old School White Bread, which was hearty and dense, and Waffleloafle, a brioche-like bread. We left our sweet tooths at home and went the all-savory route for their Egg Salad, Curry Byrd and Rarebit.

The Egg Salad was like a play on deviled eggs with a smidgen of spice. This toast nestled chunks of hardboiled egg, celery and red onion in an all-over creamy, limey dressing that any egg salad lover could appreciate. The egg salad mixture was topped off with green onions and a dense kimchi pesto, which incorporated pecans instead of the traditional pine nut ingredient.

Curry Byrd was slathered with a subtly sweet and buttery curry spread. It was piled high with juicy, tender pulled chicken, lightly seasoned with pepper. But what really pulled this toast together was the seedy homemade cranberry jam melting into the chicken and curry butter—sheer perfection.

The Rarebit was a more minimalist toast among the three, but it presented a seemingly unlikely combination that was ultimately made for each other. Rarebit oozed with a thick layer of smoky cheese made with Young Veterans Brewing Company’sNight Vision, an American Stout beer. Radish slices scattered over top achieving that spicy-smoky food marriage that I love.

And what’s toast without some beverages? We washed them all down with their Magna Carta of tequila, triple sec and lime and a Sazerac of rye and pernod, a licorice-esque liqueur; all was good for this brunch loving gal.

After chatting with our server, we learned Toast was based on the owners’ love for bread and their interest in a tartine-style menu; that’s Toast in a nutshell. They took something as classic as your morning toast to rework into ingenious combinations that are exceptionally tasty without breaching your comfort zone. The prices aren’t half-bad either; each toast ranges between $2–$5.50 so you can get your fill without breaking the bank.

Currently, Toast is open Friday and Saturday 5 p.m.–2 a.m., but they are looking to gradually extend their hours.

Toast is located at 2406 Colonial Avenue in Norfolk. Visit their website or get the latest updates from their Facebook page.